


An Alchemist's assistant

by Ariselle



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:12:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5861038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariselle/pseuds/Ariselle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A contract, that’s all it was. He was to remain as Lute Infini’s alchemy assistant till he was satisfied. Then he would eat his soul and return back to his home. That’s it…right?<br/>Wallenstein falls in love with Lute Infini as he travels on Earth journeying with this strange migrant man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sweet souls of fools. [Or aka Lute Infini is a fool why did he just offer his soul to the demon spores.]

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off the AU- Absolute Zero.  
> Prepare to be awed by an amateur writer posting her first inadequate fic to the world. I cannot name titles. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter is a little bit... boring, and is mostly just a more detailed interpretation of how the whole small section of Wallenstein's contract with Lute went in the absolute zero manga.

Lute Infini was a simple migrant man, or that’s what it would have looked like if anyone had taken a glance at him. He had messy and disheveled hair, a worn down coat with large tears in it as well as carrying a book bag resembling one of a hikers. Sometimes he smelled as if he hadn’t showered for weeks! And the state his work was in… well he seemed to barely scrape by to make a living but he managed. That pack of his was stuffed with assortments of medicine and maps of a great variety of areas. His residences were always temporary, always traveling on the road. However despite the way he smelled of the earthly soil weeks on end, the man was brilliant, employed as an alchemist but simply had no ties to anywhere.

He had arrived at a small town earlier this week, where some of the citizens were suffering through pains, and sicknesses.” I’m just a wandering friendly neighborhood alchemist!” he had said with a carefree tone as he entered the town. He set to work early on the children who had fallen sickly from an unknown disease and cured their ailments. As thanks Lute was given a room at a local inn to stay at for a while until he could figure out the cure for the elderly’s muscle pains.

Lute was looking to help create a potion for that particular infirmity but it required him to look back at an old recipe of his, which unfortunately was in his disorganized pack. Emptying its contents, Lute had begun shuffling through the massive amounts of papers he had negligently shoved in forgetting about it until it was necessary to go through them. “Recipe… recipe! There we are!” he said rather excitedly, like a small child. He found the box containing his materials for these particular symptoms! It was wrapped shut with a ribbon and he fumbled as he tried to untie it. Despite how cautious he tried to untie it, a single sharp yank was enough to let the ribbon fly; send the whole box and it’s insides to the floor. He sighed as he watched his papers scatter and flutter so ever slowly onto the floor and he bent to pick them up.

A book of green color had fallen to the floor with a thud along with the rest of his recipes startling him. Gingerly picking it up, Lute took note he was sure he had never seen it before nor did he ever remember putting it away, although he wasn’t surprised with the state of things his possessions were in…

Curiosity took over as he slid his hand across the cover, strange runes decorating it. The runes were most definitely carved in by hand. He was rather bored having taken so long, he had thought, it would not hurt him to look through, to kill some time.  Lute opened the book with an eager and earnest expression

Lute recognized these symbols, the language of the old that alchemists had been taught to read and decipher. It took him just a single minute to translate the entire page before he moved on and on.  The book described an entire history of a forgotten civilization and a single spell.

In summary of Lute’s understanding, there once had been a civilization that had incredible power. They used this power to create something from nothing… the technique, even forbidden by god. However the civilization continued to use this power for their own selfish purposes, God had grown angry. The people had disobeyed god’s wishes and so god eradicated all of them. That’s what most of the book was on.  Lute paused to think on this… eerie story. If the whole civilization really was eradicated then who had grown to have been able to write these after events? That certainly stood out in his mind.

Flipping to the last page was the same technique mentioned previously. It held a warning. Dare he try?

… Lute was always a daredevil, besides as usual he told himself, if nothing happens there was no loss no gain!

Chanting and repeating the words off the page, Lute had focused on an incredible amount of dark energy to be controlled in the palm of his hand. Lightning crackled through the room, large gusts of wind seemed to be blowing through the room as Lute continued his ritual. “…Yes! This is it! The embodiment of the demon spores!” He yelled over the sound of the deafening thunder.

The wind was blasting even more furiously than before, made Lute wince as he instinctively moved his arms to cover his face. There was something different in the air though. Not just the wind there was a presence, something heavy and it felt dark. Did…. Did he successfully summon the embodiment of the demon spores? The gusts of wind died down from the sounds of… flapping?

“…I crave the sweet souls of fools.”

Wings. The first thing Lute Infini had noticed was the wings as he stared into the eyes of the devil himself. The structure of them weren’t like a birds, they were more like bats, he concluded, however these bat like wings were attached to the back of a young male. His brown hair reached past his chin but not past his shoulders. The devil Lute had summoned wore a pair of red rimmed glasses obscuring his dark violet eyes.  Horns sprouted on their head, close to a Ram, but purple in color. Lute's eyes trailed down and the next thing they noticed was the male had goat hooves instead for feet. he must have been staring at them for quite a while because a sharp snapping brought his attention back up. The demon had snapped their fingers to get his attention and he started laughing nervously. Their cold, disdainful eyes had looked down at him now, tilting their head to observe this new... figure... before they opened their mouth to speak. Their voice, to Lute seemed like velvet; smooth, yet somehow intimidating. He found the attire of his clothing cute somehow... 

“Offer yours unto me! And you shall receive whatsoever you wish for. Come… What is your desire…?”

“You want me to trade you my soul…?” Lute inquired, it wasn’t fear, more like a deep sense of interest and the demon he summoned from dark matter nodded.

I can have anything I want…” Lute began mumbling to himself as if in deep thought and the devil stood momentarily surprised as the man rambled on but he was patient. He looked around the room, No doubt this sage was to ask for riches, treasures… perhaps glory across all lands. Mortals were ALWAYS so predictable despite as he looked around the room he was intrigued by the way it was arranged. It didn't seem like a typical place for someone to carry out such a complicated summoning. 

It seemed like the human had come to a decision so he had turned back to face him. “Hmmm……… well… Can’t think of anything! Yeeeaaaaah!” his summoner replied rather shamelessly laughing giving him a gesture of two thumbs up.

“...Wh-“ The devil started, dumbfounded. “What?! Why did you summon me then?!”

“Oh, I was looking for some old recipes and then I found the spell so I just decided to try it out! I was really bored and it was really tough, but that’s what makes it fun!” Lute said brightly.

‘Recipes for what?’ The demon paused for a moment and looked at Lute although clearly still unsettled by this man’s happy disposition. “You can’t be a simple mortal, to be able to distill that much dark matter…Then… are you the king’s demon conquering sage?”

“The king? Nooope! I’m just a friendly neighborhood alchemist that helps people and stuff! I make medicines for the old grannies and the kiddos!”

'An alchemist? How interesting--'

“Wait- You’re not even a summoner?!”

“Nooope!” Lute replied with a genuine look of innocence.

 “This…This is terrible…how could I get stuck with a man like you?” The demon seemed distressed now and Lute felt partially guilty. “Hey, when you say it like that I feel kind of bad!... Ah I know! Think about it this way! It was pretty fun trying to summon you! It was a really hard ritual! Besides summoning demons sure is romantic isn’t it?~”

“You are a fool… I can’t believe you would offer your soul to the demon spores for this.”

“Ahaha… it’s okay! well now I’ve made a new friend! Of course it’s worth it for that!”

The demon gawked at him wondering to himself about this oddball of a man. A man with no desire but powerful enough to summon him simply to make friends…?

‘Friends…?…What a nutcase.’

 “… If that’s all you have to say and you have nothing to wish for I’ll just eat your soul and go back home.”

“Uhhn… wait I got it! I’ll think of something, just give me a minute!” Lute said enthusiastically as he thought to himself. The smaller male only watched the other stumble around in his thoughts, pacing back and forth in the room and could only feel uncomfortable by this man’s shameless attitude.

“Oh! I got it!”

He nearly tripped on himself as he raced to the opposite end of the room looking through the disastrous mess on his bed. “Perfect!” He produced a much smaller book bag but similar in fashion to his own and moved the boy’s arms so he could place it on him. “Taa-daa!” he announced proudly. “You’re now my assistant!”

It took a moment for the other to comprehend exactly what the alchemist was implying or rather straightly stating. “…I have to be the assistant to some mortal alchemist?” the brunette questioned in disbelief.  “This is your wish…?”

“Mmhmm! It’s kinda lonely around the road sometimes and it’s really busy so it’d be a great help if you were around!”

“…I can only appear around night though.”

“Ahaha, I should have expected as much. That’s fine also! Even if you can only appear around night you’ll still be a big help!”

“Ugh…” The devil couldn’t help but sigh. 

'This man is very odd... the more he talks the more I am confused.'

“Oh yeah! that’s right! Let me introduce myself properly! I’m Lute Infini! What’s your name?” Lute said graciously extending an arm for a handshake. "I mean if you're going to be working as my assistant we should get to know each other!" The devil looked a bit surprised at the action, hesitating for a mere moment before shaking it with his gloved hand.

“…It is Wallenstein. Pleased to meet you, Lute.”


	2. Maybe... the human world isn't that bad.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true beginning of Lute and Isa's [Wallenstein's] journey.  
> Day 1 of travel: Isa gets to know about stars and other small critters. He also gets a journal. Also he's Lute's "wife?" The human world is strange.

The human could not even get his name right, he realized on his beginning days of his journey.

Ever since he was summoned Wallenstein had to deal with stages of confusion, one after the other.  First the human supposedly summoned him on ‘accident’ just to see if the spell actually worked. Secondly the alchemist had called the ritual of collecting large amounts of dark matter in one place “fun”. Thirdly when he was summoned the man didn’t even have a wish in mind!

Maybe he shouldn’t have asked if the alchemist had wanted a wish, maybe he should have just eaten his soul because now, Wallenstein was tied to this man as his “assistant” and quite frankly he didn’t even have a clue what he was supposed to do. Demons don’t normally work for people?! Not to mention he had no prior knowledge of alchemy or medicine. Medicine was some kind of relief, a prolonging of death, putting it in his own terms. Demons never needed saving, they are the embodiment of death after all. If they died no one really cared.

He spent the morning after the first contract in his own world. He tended to his dragons which missed his absence. He muttered brazenly and told them about the alchemist he was now bound to. He told them how much of an annoyance it would be. He reassured them he’d be back every morning and spend the days with them. His most favorite and treasured dragon growled in response and he gave it a wry smile.

Something strange resonated in him though. This was the first time he’s been able to leave this world to travel to the next. One might even call him a young and inexperienced demon. Some form of adrenaline ran through his body. Could he possibly even be thrilled that he was now able to leave this world and to be able to travel to a new one? He wasn’t sure what the feeling was and he put such thoughts aside.

He came at night just as he promised.

He never warned Lute when he would come or which way he would come so when a portal appeared from the ground Lute was given quite the startle. He knocked over bottles of…of whatever he was handling. They clattered to the ground and shattered. Purple liquid oozed over the floor. Wallenstein waved his hand to make his inter dimensional tunnel vanish.

“!... Oh! You’re um here!” Lute replied, still enthusiastically though as he hastily scrambled to clean up the shattered fragments of his vials.

“Yes, I am. Was I not supposed to?” He stated bluntly.

“No! You just scared me. I didn’t know you could do that!”

“Of course I can.”

Lute pouted, and Wallenstein scoffed. “What are you even doing?”

“Oh, making some leftover medicine for the people in the town. I finished the other batch in the day.” He hummed. “Well before you scared me, and I dropped it.”

He didn’t reply to that.

“Can you help me clean it up? It’s also an assistant’s job to well… assist!”

Wallenstein was about to open his mouth, perhaps snap a finger, cast some magic, but Lute shook his head firmly. “No magic! That’s cheating!”

“As much as I’d love to be learning the mortal way of cleaning Lute, he said sarcastically and coldly glaring at the other, magic is more efficient. Besides it’s pretty hard to use magic in this form right now.”

“Nooope! That’s not fair! You made me drop them so we’ll clean up together in the way we should be! The mortal way!” Lute scolded and handed the other a broom in his hand and a dustpan in the other.

“This is ridiculous!” Wallenstein protested waving the broom around as he waved his arms around.

“Look it’s easy! Just sweep the glass up into that! I have the mop!” Lute said swiping at the floor vigorously with the mop to clean up the spill.

Wallenstein frowned before skeptically holding the broom in the way he was watching Lute use it and made simple but effective strokes. He was contented with how he was doing, even though honestly this was just a lot more effort than he bargained for. “Valentine!” Lute was saying. Wallenstein chose to ignore it for a moment before Lute repeated the term again. This time with more muted sounds.

‘Valentine?... he can’t be serious.’

“Hey um.. uh… Valentine!” Lute said waving the mop around flailing it carelessly to get his attention.

“It is Wallenstein.” He corrected in a flat tone looking up at the other curiously.

“….so… Valley time!” Lute attempted again. Wallenstein sighed.  He was unsure if the other was being serious or if he was fooling around.

“No. It’s --… never mind. Just call me whatever you want.”

“Then… Isa-kun!”

“…Why that particular name?”

“No reason whatsoever! I think it suits you! It’s cute! What do you think?” Lute hummed in satisfaction.

“…It’s …alright.”

“Yaaaaaaay!” To Isa’s surprise Lute literally threw himself at the other and he barely kept himself from falling down. Arms around his neck and Isa tried to shake him off in an uncomfortable failure.

“Are all humans so disgustingly affectionate like you sir?” He scowled.

“Aha, I don’t know!” Lute said finally surrendering his arms back to his sides.

“…You are strange sir.” Isa pat at his jacket cape, unhappy with how it was so crinkled from the hug.

“I’ve been told.” Lute said in a sing song tone, he was so carefree, Isa rolled his eyes. 

 “Hey Isa!” Lute called again.

                                                            

“What?” Isa snapped, clearly annoyed. This arrangement was already incommodious and he was not able to find a moment of recovery in this painful situation.

Lute paused and had the smallest hints of a frown which made Isa stop for a minute before quickly looking away. Lute walked over to him again and Isa nervously peered at the alchemist. There was a smile again on his face making Isa forget any form of guilt he bore earlier.

 “I also wanted to say I appreciate you being around. It’s your first day and you‘re already an excellent assistant! I kinda wished I summoned you earlier! I tend to spill a lot of things and become increasingly disorganized so it’s gonna be pretty great with you helping me out.” Lute said ruffling the other’s hair. Isa froze in his movements before looking back at the male.

“…You have an unusual way of showing appreciation.” Isa said flustered, gently pushing Lute’s arm off his head as he continued sweeping up Lute’s mess. Lute’s eyes warmed at the sight of the other, giggling to himself.

“Ah! Hey Isa can you do me a favor?”

“That depends on what you’re asking me to do.”

“It’s fun and all! but I think it’s best if you didn’t open a portal to hell in the room. It’s not good for my heart or work! Or the innkeepers…”

* * *

The next night “Isa” shows up and without batting an eyelash or an eye maybe, Lute smiles brightly at him. “Good morning Isa!” He’s come through that shower of wind today, and not a portal. He makes a small nod of acknowledgement at him. Perhaps it was because Isa listened to him that Lute looked surprisingly relieved. 

“It’s evening if I recall.” He replies sharply crossing his arms rather impatiently.

“Well, it’s like morning to you isn’t it?”

“…I cannot argue against that.”

“Say I was always curious! Do you sleep in the daytime? And then hunt in the nighttime?”

“I can see you are irritatingly mistaken. I am not a vampire, sir.” He said the last words with heavy emphasis. “There is no concept of time in the demon realm but I do tend to sleep in the mornings of the mortal world. In addition I do not hunt. My dragons may but I do not do such actions. Instead people offer their souls to me. Like you did.” He shot Lute a glare. “I thought you would have been well acquainted with that idea by now. Your soul is basically mine now after you contracted with me.”

Lute blinked, before bursting back into a smile. “That’s the most I’ve ever heard you say in a moment! I see! That’s interesting. I’ve learned another thing about you!”

Isa made a small noise of dissatisfaction leaving silence afterwards. Lute broke it in a brief second though.

“We’re gonna leave tonight when you’re ready!”

‘Leave?’ Isa’s only been here for two nights and Lute already wanted to leave?!  Looking over at him, Lute started chuckling to himself. Isa, with a miffed look glowered at him silently to hide his turmoil. “Wait…I didn’t mention I was a traveling alchemist?” Lute questioned him.

“You said nothing of the sort.”

“Oh! Well I’m a travelling alchemist! I delivered the medicine we made yesterday." Isa wanted to cut in and explain Lute did all of the medicine making while he was cleaning but he decided against the trouble. "We seemed to fix their problem so it’s onwards to the next town!”

“Don’t you think you should have said this earlier? It’s a bit late for that now.”

“Sorry!” Lute said apologetically, his hands were pressed together and he bowed his head continually, grinning though. Even though it’s been only two nights, Isa had a feeling he was rarely going to see this man not give off a smile, or anything else besides being happy.

“It’s okay I have a present to make up for this! Isa, here!” Lute waved him over and Isa quietly slid over to him, slowly and cautiously. “Why are you walking like that?” Lute laughed. “Hold out your hand!” He gestured for Isa to spread his hands open which he reluctantly obliged. Lute set a rather heavy and large book in his hand and a thin quill and a bottle of ink on top of the book.

“What is this.”

“It’s a gift! It’s a journal so you can record our travels on Earth!”

“That’s stupid. I don’t want to.”

“Ehhhhh???” Lute exclaimed before his expression morphed into a mischievous grin. “But as your contractor and as my assistant I will order you to record in it! Therefore you have to!”

“W…What?!” Isa shot him a menacing glare but Lute was not phased and continued to beam. “You’ll find it good for you later! It’s always nice to look back at old things since we’re going to be travelling around a lot!”

Isa looked uncertainly at the notebook being handed to him. It was refreshingly new [not like Lute’s old crumpled and… yellowing papers] and the cover was a hard copy too. He took it either ways and made a stifled “thanks” under his breath. Lute looked pleased and smiled warmly.

Isa slid the top of his smaller backpack open and deposited his new journal in it along with the other minor materials before closing it up with the clasp on it.

“Okay! Did you get your pack ready? Everything set?”

“I only have a few possessions. You should worry more about your own…sir.” Isa said in an almost mocking tone looking at Lute’s desk.

“I’m almost done! Don’t be so cruel Isa~”

* * *

While Lute was returning the keys and working on the leave of the inn Isa was surprised when one of the innkeepers asked Lute about him at the desk. Well he was wondering how Lute would explain such a situation if put on the spot. He couldn’t possibly say he summoned a demon in the room out of thin air and now there was another resident. A lady who was also wearing glasses was squinting at him. “Is this your wife sir? I don’t remember seeing her around earlier.”

‘Wife?’

“Oh nono, he’s not! He’s my assistant, isn’t he cute? He came a bit later since he was busy! Y’know, delivering medicines for me in another town. “Lute pulled at Isa’s cheeks. Isa then slapped at his wrist to make him release them, rubbing his cheeks at the stinging pain. She then seemed disinterested going back to the register. “I see. I’m done doing the paperwork. Thanks for helping the town sir.” Lute returned the room key to her and bowed on his way out, rather fashionably before treading onto the dirt road leading to the fields. ”Thanks for the stay!” He waved promptly and walked towards the direction of their next destination, Isa following close behind.

The fields were long, full of cattail plants and reeds in the way. For sure there was a body of water around Isa could smell it but the plants were so tall and thick it was hard to see anything. There was only a single path of yellow lined down the middle. Isa prodded the plants in fascination noting the texture and properties of the brown plants. He recalled something he wished to interrogate Lute about earlier seeing him so defensive earlier on the subject.

“Lute.”

“What is it Isa-kun?~” Lute responded happily.

“What’s a wife?” Lute almost choked for a minute and turned around to face him. “That innkeeper called me your wife.” Isa shrugged.

“Ah… how to say this plainly!…” Lute scratched the back of his head.

“Just say it plainly...”

“They’re a lifelong partner gendered specifically. I never had a lifelong partner… well until I had you! I’m a man on the road!”

“So… I’m your wife?”

“No Isa! We’re not married! Marriage is a human custom to seal your life together with someone until they die.” Well this conversation was going nowhere and getting awkward. Lute continued to sweat.

“I don’t get it. I’m bound to you as your assistant until you die which does make us partners in a contract. However, you said it doesn’t work that way but what you just described was exactly what our partnership is. You mortals have the strangest rituals. This conversation makes no sense.” Isa concluded looking completely nonchalant about it.

“Y-Yeah! It doesn’t…ahahah… let’s talk about something else.” Lute sped walked ahead of him still leaving Isa very very befuddled by his behavior. Lute interrupted his fast movements to suddenly dive into the plants. Isa was actually so baffled at his action that without thinking he dove in behind him. The cattails itched his face as he tried to push them aside to look for his mentor. He found Lute digging in the plants for a minute. Isa wondered if he should have been concerned before Lute rapidly shook his hand at him before placing it into a cupping position.

 “Come look Isa! Look at this creature! It’s so cute!” Lute called him over as he kneeled into the grasses and Isa sat down to peek over at Lute’s cupped hands. The creature was tiny in size, and brown. He couldn’t call it hideous but it was unsightly. Lute called this thing cute? Despite its initial appearance, Isa questioned about the creature.

“What is it? It is not a dragon.”

“Have you never seen a frog before?”

Isa almost rolled his eyes. “As a demon from the other realm I can assure you there is nothing like this there. Everything is large, and there are only dragons and maybe some dogs the size of dragons. Can it fly? Can it transform to some sort of magical weapon? Does it have a useful function?” He almost squinted at the frog fiddling with the frame of his glasses.

“No, silly Isa! Although they do make for some good ingredients in specific medicines.” Lute said gently poking at the frog with his index finger.

Isa looked confused. “Then why does it exist? It’s essentially useless is it not? If this frog was in the demon realm we’d eradicate its existence or it would die on its own. It cannot help us.”

“Why does anything exist Isa?” Lute questioned as he released the frog back into the weeds. “What do you think is an appropriate reason to exist?”

Isa thought to himself for a moment. “Surely it has a function. It can’t sit there and look pretty, not that it is anything appealing to the eye...”

“I don’t know what exists in the demon realm and all, but sure, everything has a function, just not everything has to be useful, directly. Sometimes things exist without a direct purpose to help the organisms living here. See for example, take a look up there Isa!”

Isa was about to protest mumbling about how he already knew what the night sky looked like before Lute tilted his head up for him.

Luminous and numerous little lights were lighting the sky. The sky which should have been dark wasn’t, the shade of blue being illuminated was extraordinary. They flickered sometimes the longer Isa stared at them. He swore he saw one streak across the sky at one point but it vanished. There were even red ones. Those were less in numbers but he could see them. He rubbed his eyes, they were brilliant.

“What are those?” He demanded an answer from Lute, his eyes retaining the glow of thrill.

“Stars! You can’t touch them, but they give light to the sky at dark!” Lute responded eagerly.

“Hm…stars.” It was like there was a hint of awe in his voice as he continued to look up at the sky.

“Stars don’t give off that much light unless there are a lot, so it’s not accurate to use them as guide in the dark.” Lute expressed amusement at Isa’s reaction to them. “Well it’s difficult to explain, I think people can find the use in almost everything. Haha, we’re a sort of leech that preys on anything. For you demons I guess small things like these don’t mean much.”

“…Indeed.” Isa replied quietly looking back up.  Lute picked up on it and looked up as well ecstatic at Isa’s enjoyment of the sky.

“Do you like them?”

“They’re… incandescent. My world doesn’t have those. The sky is…gray there with nothing else. Here is… more exquisite.”

Lute chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Isa made a smile, the first smile Lute’s seen from him and it made Lute’s heart skip. “We’ll be able to see these alot on the road, that’s another reason why I like moving around instead of being in one place!”

Isa closed his eyes taking in a last image, before he stood back up. “Despite how intriguing this has been, I think sir we have to move, you have a town to get to don’t you?”

Lute made a sad smile at Isa and stood up as well. “It’s alright Isa. We’ll come back to the fields sooner than you know it! Then you can look at it all you’d like. Promise!~”

Isa blinked. “I did not need reassurance Lute.”

Lute laughed, “I just wanted to say it!” before he walked back into the general direction of the path they strayed off on.  “I think… staying here won’t be that bad.” Isa mumbled lightly under his breath behind him, no doubt sure that he though Lute couldn’t hear, but he did and Lute brightened.

Lute was determined now to let Isa enjoy all of the world he’s grown to know and love.

He tugged at Isa’s arm, dragging him snapping the smaller male’s attention at him. “Isa! We've got a little bit of time left, it's not any medicine making or actual alchemy but it's science!" he lied about having more time than they should, but he was really excited in getting to teach his demon friend about so many things.

"Lute?"

"So I’ll teach you how to ewoowoo as a special lesson from me! But first we need a bigger frog…”

“…Ewoowoo?...”

* * *

_Dear journal:_

_Lute says that I have to write in this thing, the first thing I have to say is this is stupid. What mortal decided talking to himself on paper was a good idea? If you have to talk, wouldn’t it be easier to plainly speak instead of wasting time and materials to do this arduous task?_

_Today is my proper first day as an assistant and I’ve already found a great level of distaste for it. I haven’t even done any proper medicine making nor tasked with anything to do with ACTUAL alchemy._

_Lute can’t get my name right so I got my first nickname. He calls me Isa. It’s not bad... I don’t dislike it._

_Anyways, Lute and I watched stars today. They’re… interesting to say the least. They glow, and make light in the mortal night. I asked Lute if they had any practical uses. He said not everything that exists always has a “useful function.” Sometimes they just exist to look pretty. We don’t have stars back home. Maybe my dragons would like to see those sometime. He also showed me a weird creature called a “frog” and taught me about some fascinating method to “ewoowoo” a specimen.  Frogs are very small. There aren’t a lot of small animals where I live. Lute calls these smaller things “critters”_

_Earth is rather annoying, it has too many organisms to keep track of. How anyone remembers the names of all these things on Earth is beyond even my knowledge._

_I’m assuming I need to write more in this but I still find this stupid._

_Lute’s reading this over my shoulder as I write this and told me most journals end with a “love from the writer.” I told him I do not love you so he told me to write sincerely instead. So I’ll end it here I guess._

_Sincerely yours Wallenstein. [Isa]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I never satisfied with my writing. I may rewrite this chapter too... sometime after I finish the ending.  
> This update was long overdue sorry I hit writer's block for a moment...  
> but I started on a few oneshots which I hope I can post those soon too...  
> Also Note: Ewoowoo is basically an unethical experiment Shuu and Ryuuji did back in their Hawk Party researcher days where they put another functioning mouth in the back of a living organism’s head. Amazing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to a friend buying them for me, I was able to read Focus on the hawk party! and Absolute Zero and it made me very invested into Shuu's and Ryuuji's relationship in all the stories.  
> I've never posted my writing before, and this chapter will probably be re-written later as I'm still not happy with it. Writing dialogue is a weakness of mine.  
> I don't know if people will read this story at all but if you do, thank you very much! I will probably update... when I have free time.


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